Look at the rescued dogs now in NCAR's care

Meanwhile, the father Tizer who is nine-years-old, is only 16kg when he should be at least 30kg.

One-year-old Digby is also very thin.

The 11-week-old puppies have been given Christmas names by the centre – Robin, Noel and Holly – and are only a quarter of the size they should be, currently weighing just 1-2kg each.

"She would have died in a few days if we hadn’t got to her”

Karen said: “We just wanted to get them away as quickly as possible. We gave them biscuits in the back of the van and they could not eat them fast enough. They were starving.

“Rosie the mum is the worst of the lot. She would have died in a few days if we hadn’t got to her.”

But founder of NCAR Anne Owen says she wishes the owner had got in touch with them earlier.

She said: “It is not our job to judge people. But it is so sad these dogs have been left to get into this state. If we had been called earlier we could have helped the animals a lot sooner. They were not far off dying.

“We are now nursing the animals back to health so they’re not quite ready for a home yet. But now they are with us they will have a very happy Christmas with plenty of toys and a turkey dinner.”